Stop and Smell the Flowers
by Katchia
Summary: A collection of stories featuring our favorite couple. Jace is protective, and humorous acts ensue.
1. Some Introductory Spying

"Stop!"

Surprised, Jace did. The suspiciously empty street looked back at him. Shrugging internally, he ignored the shriek.

"Hey! Nooo...Stop it!"

Just after hearing the second yell, Jace realized he was on Magnus' street, and had stopped coincidentally in front of his apartment building. Jace had passed this off as another one of Magnus' shenanigans at first, but...

When another declarative emanated from the door, Jace's eyes narrowed. Alec was in there. Pausing slightly before cautiously running up the stairs, he flicked out a seraph blade.

He stepped quietly towards the entrance, about to peek his head around the door frame, when-

"Ouch! Magnus, quit that!"

A giggling Alec fell through the doorway,with Magnus close behind him, tickling whatever bit of skin that flashed through his clothes. Alec balanced precariously at the bottom of the stairwell, just having time to adjust his jumpsuit before having to bat away Magnus' kisses once again.

Jace raised his eyebrow at their appearance. For one, he had never once seen Magnus so relaxed, fashion wise. He was only wearing ripped jeans and a white shirt, and for another thing, Alec seemed genuinely exhilarated.

Jace watched with an amused expression as the couple caught their hands together and walked down the street, Alec talking animatedly while Magnus laughed.

Both had missed seeing him for the most part, him having jumped directly into the bushes on the side to avoid being seen, and as Jace closed the door behind them, he was glad.

Perhaps later he wouldn't be cornered yet again by Izzy, demanding details like she had every other time when he'd let slip that he'd glimpsed them at the fair the week before (**The events that happened there are another story; would you like to hear them?**).

Jace was glad to see Alec behaving this way, though it was sometimes questionable, but Alec deserved the best the world could give. He decided then that he would write a handbook for Magnus. The... Guide to Alec's happiness, or something along those lines.

It'd start with,

_Rule no. 1: Keep Alec Fed, or I will feed you to a Behemoth demon._

_Rule no. 2: Never Embarrass Alec, or I will steal your glitter and kill your cat._

_Rule no. 3: Love Alec Unconditionally, or I will personally beat you up._

_Rule no. 4:.._


	2. Introduce me to your brother?

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN! **

**I like to call it October Halloween because for me, Halloween is a monthly thing.**

**I spontaneously busted this out in around three minutes while bopping to cute music.**

* * *

The door jingled shut shut behind Jace as he stepped into the warm cafe. Ordering a hot coffee from the guy behind the counter, he was just about to take a sip when a very grumpy Alec stalked up to him with his arms crossed.

Wearing a skirt.

Jace spluttered, nearly coughing up his drink, then dropped the cup on the floor in a fit of laughing.

"I know." Alec crossly acknowledged, patting Jace forcefully on the back. He ran his hands up the sides of his outfit, crumpling the white blouse and red blazer. When Jace recovered, he reached out and fluffed a bit of Alec's curled hair. "Nice bow?" He tried.

Alec sighed, scooting around the side of the counter and started preparing coffees for both himself and his parabatai. Settling himself on the bar stool, Jace shucked his large jacket off and asked "So...how exactly did this happen?" He leaned his arms on the counter and took the awaiting cup from Alec.

Joining Jace on the other side of the counter, Alec replied "Every day of this week, we've been assigned costumes to wear for work, as it's Halloween week, and it's so far brought in a lot of publicity. Unfortunately, 'someone' decided that I'd look 'cute' dressed up as an anime girl."

"I'm not even going to ask how he managed that." Jace grinned, earning a whack from his best friend. "Apparently I look a lot like a girl, though." Alec mused, turning his cup in his hands. "A group of guys were trying to flirt with me earlier."

This made Jace crack up again. "I don't think you do!" He protested. Alec murmured an agreement before hopping down, fixing his skirt and getting back to work. After a few minutes of chatting, Alec went into the back to gather some supplies.

The door jingled for the thousandth time, and a tall figure in a large hat entered dramatically from the cold, his long coat flapping back to reveal red boots. Jace eyed the mysterious man as he sat down directly next to him. Not that he looked particularly suspicious, but he looked vaguely familiar.

Alec then returned, this time with cakes, and slid them carefully into their glass case. Both watched as he dashed by Jace and set down a slice in front of him before returning to the back. Jace's stool partner almost bent in half so he could watch Alec walk away.

"Hey." The guy turned to Jace his face completely covered. "Is that your girlfriend?" Jace used all his strength. "Nope." "Sister?" He guessed again. Jace considered this. Internally snickering, he replied, "Yeeeaaaah..."

"Does she have a boyfriend?" Jace shook his head, carefully stuffing his face with the cake to keep from giving anything away. "No? I like her...Will you introduce me?"

Jace called Alec back over."Hey, _Alexis,_ this guy wants to meet you." Alec rolled his eyes in Jace's direction before turning his back on him. "Can I have your coat? I don't really want to be seen like _this_ any more than possible." The male responded by swooping in and kissing Alec square on the lips. Jace almost fell off his chair.

"Sorry...I forgot to tell you Magnus was picking me up today. See you later, Jace, preferably with some _actual clothes on_..?." These last words were harshly directed at his boyfriend, now coat and hat-less, as they walked out the door.

Jace sat there for quite some time after that, until interrupted by a man setting his laptop gingerly down on the counter next to him. Seeing Jace's stare, the man smiled and pushed his hair out of his face. "Hey. Is that your-?"

"HELL NO." Jace escaped the situation by cleanly exiting the coffee shop. The man blinked, shrugged, reached over, and stole Jace's full cup of steaming coffee.

* * *

**Did I mention that this is based off the song "Introduce me to your sister" By Nu'est? **

**BY THE WAY ALEC LOOKS A LOT LIKE A GIRL. HAHAHAHAH THAT'D BE ME YES I THOUGHT HE'D LOOK CUTE DRESSED UP AS AN ANIME CHARACTER! *EVIL***


	3. Alec's Flowers and George's Monkey

Magnus sipped his hot coffee in annoyance, realizing he'd forgotten his paperwork at home. That meant he had to walk all the way back home, because he foolishly decided not to take his car, and now this was the consequence.

Wasn't it enough he was already late for the meeting? He couldn't even- _damn_. His drink soaked into the side of his jacket. Throwing the offending cup in the bin, he half ran to the cross-walk. Standing there waiting for the light, he looked in the glass of the store front, still grumbling as he fixed his hair.

Just as he was about to turn to leave, his eyes fixated on the _interior_ of the shop; before, he had only been admiring his stunning self, but now he stood there, mesmerized by the contents of the window.

A painting hung from the ceiling directly in front of the window. The scene it depicted brought chills to his skin. Painted as if you had been lying on the ground, then happened to roll over and look up, it displayed the shock of loss; a figure swallowed up by bright, almost blinding light, leaving the viewer behind in the dark.

Although at first glance it seemed a dismal scene, the more Magnus stared, the more he felt...wistful. A sense of longing, as if he would jump into the painting if he could.

He startled when he felt something cold tough his nose. Without realizing, he had slowly walked towards the glass until bumping into it. After blinking a few times, he moved a little to the side of the painting, and came face to face with a pair of bright blue eyes.

Magnus stepped back immediately. The boy crouched in the window looked at him quizzically, head tilted to the side like a curious cat. Magnus just stood there, astonished. The boy gave him a reproachful look, and resumed hanging the painting, which was what he had been doing the entire time, apparently.

Since he had turned around, Magnus now was looking straight at his backside. Not that his wasn't a pleasant view, but an awkward one, especially if he turned back around.

The blue eyed boy fortunately did not; he hopped off the window box disappeared, with Magnus' eyes followed him the entire way. There was something captivating about this boy. Glancing at the sign on the door, which read "Open", and also "Flower Shop", Magnus obeyed the command and went inside.

"Oh! Hello." A girl with curly red hair stood behind the counter, holding a pair of clippers. "Is there anything I can help you with?"  
"Yes, actually. Who painted the beautiful masterpiece hanging in your window?" She pointed her clippers to the other side of the spacious shop, to a well lit corner where a boy with dark hair sat in behind of an easel. "Alexander Lightwood. He's over there, if you want to talk to him."

Thanking the girl, Magnus made his way past overflowing boxes of perfuming flowers. He stood stiffly in front of the easel, not wanting to interrupt. Finally, the boy sighed and glanced over the top of the wood.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me again, or are you actually going to talk this time." His brush raised up and illustrated his words in the air.

"What makes you think I was staring at you?"

Magnus' mouth quirked up at his answer. "Unless you were staring out the window at George the accordion player I see nothing else in this general direction worth staring at."

"Well, from what I can see, you are _very_ attractive, blue eyes."

Alexander regarded him with a scrutinous gaze. "Are you trying to flirt with me?"

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I wanted to ask you about the painting."

"Hmm." The boy had turned back to his easel, plainly dismissing him. "Which one." He asked in a bored tone.

Despite his good looks, Magnus was getting very annoyed at him. "The one you painted. In the window?" He added.

"What about it."

Magnus narrowed his eyes. "How old are you, Alexander?"

There he got a reaction. The boy visibly stiffened, and reluctantly met Magnus' gaze. Huffing slightly, he cast his easel to the side and stood up, crossing his arms. "I'm eighteen. And it's Alec."

Magnus stepped back lightly, surprised the boy was almost as tall as him. He copied Alec's pose. "I like Alexander better."

"I won't answer to it."

_"Who said I was going to call you?"_

"You don't have my phone number."

_"Ah, but I have your business card."_

"I don't have **your** phone number."

_"Are you saying that you want it?"_

"Are you saying that you're going to call me?"

_"Are you saying that you want me to?"_

"Are you ever going to say your name?"

_"Are you ever going to answer to Alexander?"_

"Are you ever going to stop this incessant babbling?"

_"__You initiated it."  
_

"Can we stop now?"

_"Can I call you?"_

"What's your name?"

_"Magnus Bane."_

"How old are you?"

_"Twenty-three."_

"Why are you still here?"

_"I like you."_

"Why are we still talking?"

_"Can I call you?"_

"Fine!"

_"Fine!"_

"Are you going now?"

_"Yes."_

"Bye."

_"Later, babe."_

* * *

**_A/N _Oh my gosh I REALLY like this part. Read and Review please! **


	4. Give it to me

**Hey! It's been a while sweethearts. Enjoy! (if you can)  
**

* * *

Jace walked down the length of the hallway, stopping occasionally to fix his hair in the large mirror. Shadows nipped at his ankles, bringing back memories of when he and Alec would play hide and seek in the middle of the night.

Alec never played with him anymore. He was always silent, reading his large books with no pictures and words like "thy" and "thou". Try as he might, no sense could be made for his mind.

And right now, Alec was crying. He did that now. Besides Jace, Alec wouldn't let anyone inside his room, but his door hadn't opened in over a week. To say the least, Jace was getting worried.

"Alec?" He knocked one his door, leaning against the door frame. To his immediate surprise, he heard a muffled grunt and the door opened, Alec stepping through quickly and shutting it behind him, allowing Jace only the slightest glimpse of Alec's usually tidy room.

"Yeah, what?"

Jace stepped back carefully and eyed the pale chest of his shirtless, rumpled friend. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "...what's going on?"

Alec yawned, scratching the back of his neck, then looked down, frowning. "I don't know what you're talking about. Listen, I'm tired, I just got back, I've got -" He yawned again, looking a little forced. "- stuff to do. We'll talk later." With that he swung back into his room.

Jace just stood there for a few moments, bewildered. After not speaking to anyone in the family for weeks, that speech there was a little excessive. Noting the light in Alec's ordinarily dark room, he hid around a corner, anticipating his next move.

However, the door opened before he could make any assumptions. From his mildly cramped position, he could barely recognize Alec. It was him, though. So Jace waited until Alec turned the corner, then he crept up to his door, turned the knob, and-

"Ah! Darling, you said that you wou - oh, my. Well _hello_ there beautiful."

Jace whitened and fell against the open door, confounded and shocked in a abundance of ways at the sight of an extremely naked man laying on Alec's bed. He was a little frightened; in the past few days, he had imagined anything but this.

Jace opened his mouth to shout a few curses while his brain tried to figure out what the_ hell_ was happening, when the very nicely tanned man beat him to it, quirking his eyebrow sexily in the process.

"Is there something the matter? Your expression reminds me of a drowning fish in many ways..." He muttered thoughtfully, screwing his face in what Jace at first thought was concentration, but then, coupled with the flailing arms and gagging noises, he decided it was an imitation.

A gasp at the doorway caused both fish to turn towards the entrance, where a boy stood, eyes wide.

"Oh! Jace! I..."

"Alec! Wha-what the fu-"

"Tsk tsk tsk, now now,_ Jace,_ no cursing in front of my boyfriend, he might learn something naughty from you on accident." The man, still persistently lying on his bed, deviously interrupted. "Actually, that might not be that bad.."

Alec blushed to the tips of his ears and slammed the door shut, then sat down on the floor directly across from Jace. "Uhm...Jace this is Magnus."

"Hai" Magnus waved optimistically at Jace, still slumped on the floor. "Alec's my lover. I'm sure you know him? More to the point though, who are you and why are you in here interrupting our-"

"Jace is my brother and he lives here." Alec said very quickly.

Magnus hopped out of bed, and instantaneously Jace averted his eyes for a few seconds. When he dared to glance back up, Magnus was sitting happily cross-legged on the bed, arms around a very embarrassed Alec, who sat between his legs. Magnus began kissing his neck.

"Right. I'll just...you'll explain?" Jace glanced hastily at Magnus. "Later?"

"Ye-yeah. Yes." Alec swallowed. "Sure, of course."

Magnus paused for a brief moment, "See you later Jace! I'm here anytime!" Then went back to Alec, twining his arms around Alec, who was slowly melting, sinking down further into Magnus' lap.

"I'm just.." Jace got up and pointed towards the door. "I'm just gonna.."

"Bye." Magnus mumbled.

"Right."

Jace left, securing the door calmly, walking down the hall calmly, passing his sister calmly, noticing her quizzical gaze calmly, walking with her to her room calmly, and roaring for the whole world to hear, had the walls not been soundproof, the puzzle of Alec's life and the unfairness, all extremely calm, of course.

He noted Isabelle's astonished giggling somewhat calmly as well.


	5. VERY IMPORTANT Authors Note

**This IS the new chapter for "Stop and Smell the Flower", never fear. **

**I happen to have written a longer one than I'd originally hoped, and it has a bit of a different feel, so I posted it in another story. **

**I encourage that you read it, of course! Please go to my profile page and click on "Never Let You Go", under my stories. **

**Thank you all for your continued support; consider this a gift to the 10 of you who are currently following this.  
**

**I love you all! Keep the reviews rolling!**

**-Katchia**

**p.s. I started a forum to discuss things, you can find it on my profile page. **

**EDIT!: I'm so sorry for the mix-up, I accidentally switched the documents. You can now find my recently uploaded story on my profile page. Again, I apologize. I feel awful.**


	6. Insecure Dinosaur Imitators

**Just a short addition to this growing work in favour of my bestie, my kanja to my romanjin, who's birthday is this week! **

**I've fixed the slight problem of the former chapter so it's uploaded now. **

* * *

With a grunt, Magnus slid his over packed bag underneath the seat in front of him, and turned around, catching Alec in the unforgivable act. "Wait, Alec. No, no, no, don't go there!"

Alec was sliding his headphones over his ears, ignoring Magnus' comments, questions, and frantic arm waving as he tried to fall asleep, the music drowning out all other sounds in the aircraft but for the occasional air pressure pop.

Magnus was extremely displeased. Feeling decidedly awake, Magnus gradually seduced slumber for only a few hours, until pleasantly awakened by Alec's rare and adorable laugh.

Perched on the edge of the seat across the aisle, an attractive male with curly brown hair chatted with Alec. He was obviously flirting with Alec, furthermore in an irresistible french accent, which didn't surprise Magnus, but what did was the fact that Alec was talking back! Flirtatiously, at that, though he probably couldn't tell.

This monstrosity had to be stopped at once. Pretending to still be deeply asleep, Magnus pulled Alec's arm around him and snuggled into the side of Alec uncovered neck, probing his vein with his nose.

Alec immediately giggled, and crunched his neck and shoulders, interrupting himself mid-sentence. After a few more tickles, the adversary finally left, after Magnus subtly glared at him.

Happily, Magnus succeeded in capturing Alec's attention for the remainder of the long flight.


	7. Waves

"but-"

"No, Alec. You're completely correct.I should let you go. There's no way things could work out between us." Magnus spoke his words with a sigh, carefully constructing his expression to hold no emotion.

"I thought we cov-" Interrupting himself, Alec mumbled painfully. "I...I guess that would be best." Turning his head to the side, he focused his eyes on the rippling water.

"I now realize you have been right all along." Magnus paced casually in front of the stunned shadowhunter. "If you leave, it would save us both from eventual heartbreak. it's better this way." Alec's hair was soft underneath his hand. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "It's only logical."

Alec meanwhile had failed to hold his tears back, and they were coursing down his cheeks, dripping off his chin onto his blue scarf. He pulled it off, twisting it in his hands to distract himself.

"In fact, we should have thought of this long ago." Magnus was currently saying. Alec tried to talk, only to be unable to form words. Magnus folded his hands behind his back. "I know what you are trying to say. You did tell me, but I didn't listen. I'm afraid this is all my fault."

This was the final blow for Alec. Silently sobbing, he sat down hard on the had said the exact same things just last week, but it sounded much crueler coming from Magnus' lips.

He finally looked over at Magnus, only to discover he had sat down next to him and was watching him with a loving expression. "Alec..." He fluidly pulled the boy into his arms. "This is how I feel when you tell me to leave you; you obviously don't mean that. Understand that, please. There is no words for how much I love yo-"

Blood ran down Magnus' chin, and he looked bewilderingly at his boyfriend, who's fist had just connected with his now sore face.


End file.
